Trans Europa Express

Performer: Kraftwerk
Engineer: Peter Bollig; Bill Halverson
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Florian Schneider (vocals, synthesizer, vocoder, electronics). Kraftwerk reached a creative peak on this 1977 masterpiece, whose second side was entirely devoted to a breathtaking aural recreation of an intercontinental train journey. The first side featured the shimmering beauty of "Europe Endless" alongside the eerie, dislocated vocals of "The Hall of Mirrors" and "Showroom Dummies," the latter track demonstrating the band's often unappreciated sly humour. Representing one of the pinnacles of 70s electronic music, it was a notable irony that the expressionless and mechanistic Kraftwerk went on to become, via Afrika Bambaataa's sampling of "Trans-Europe Express" on his seminal "Planet Rock" single, one of the early pioneers of dance music.

Rolling Stone (11/14/02, p.93) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...They changed pop music forever....Conceptually, Kraftwerk were as prophetic as Orwell..." Q (10/95, p.140) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...changed the face of American dance music...one of the most compelling beats of this or any other era..." Vibe (12/99, p.164) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Q (Magazine) (p.116) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's famed for its title track, though its most perfect piece is 'Europe Endless,' another glorious evocation of motion..."

Kraftwerk was initially part of the hippie-era krautrock boom. However, this pioneering German electro-pop group soon set themselves apart from their long-haired contemporaries by forsaking acid-soaked jams for a clean, precise sound whose mechanical aspects were part of its charm. Their catchy, simple synthesizer melodies were a key influence on subsequent generations of electronic musicians. They can be seen as the fathers of both '80s synth-pop and '90s electronica.

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